Lola Yamaha ABT driver, Lucas di Grassi, has today unveiled a new electric concept racer – the DGR-Lola – designed from first principles to showcase the performance possible in electric racing with current technologies.
The car combines variable active aerodynamics, enhanced modular battery design, improved safety features and open software integration to create a package which was shown during simulation to be 4.3 seconds faster and 10x more efficient than a current Formula 1 car around the Circuit de Monaco. The DGR-Lola features twin-turbine suction for modular downforce, generating large amounts at any speed. It also benefits from all-wheel drive, with 600kW (804bhp) of power from two motors, powered by a fully integrated 60kWh modular battery.
Designed and engineered by Lucas, the development was supported by Lola Cars using its cutting-edge facility in Silverstone. After providing initial feedback for Lucas’ design, Lola Cars’ highly experienced technical team ran lap time simulations to allow the performance capability to be understood and a comprehensive car specification to be created. In addition, Sebastian Lamour’s LamTec was responsible for CAD, renderings were produced by Chris Paul Design and the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) runs were carried out by Airshaper.
"This project should serve as an inspiration for the future generations of electric racing cars. The question of whether such cars can be faster than Formula 1 has been answered with data and simulation. My plan is to build this car in the next two years.”
“At Lola, we are always looking for new ways to drive innovation through motorsport and supporting Lucas with this design through utilising our in-house expertise and state-of-the-art R&D facilities was a perfect project for this. The result is a car which pushes the boundaries of what is possible in electric racing through maximising technological solutions which are already available.”
